A good friend of mine just got screwed on eBay, to the tune of $5100. Guy in Florida had a 98 Suburban for sale, reserve not met, then agreed after the auction, sent an email looking like from eBay saying that he agreed to the highest bid (note that reserve was not met, so auction is ended with no sale) and they guy told him to wire the $ using Western Union. They guy picked up cash, and no deliver on vehicle. They guy claimed to have no PayPal account so needed the $ to be wired.

PLEASE be very very cautious on any eBay sale! DO NOT send a dime until you are 100% confident in the person to be legit and deliver the car/truck. If you have to ask eBay for help, do so. There is a lot of fraudulent escrow houses out there too. Many work with the scammer directly, are one in the same too.

And if any sale is made AFTER the bidding has ended and no bidder has won (and it shows in your MY eBay page that you HAVE won, do nothing unless My Ebay page shows it, all communication for sending $$ goes there, not through emails from eBay) eBay will not help you. They will try to shut the person down, but you have no recourse on eBay. My friend's only hope is Western Union. We have what we think is a legit VIN, and we have a phone that worked once, but is now disconnected, and the "new" number in Florida does not belong to anyone that has a clue.

The story is the guy was in ILL somewhere, and moved to Florida and had to sell and was going to deliver the vehicle to him. No contact can be made now. All emails now are unresponsive.

So, just please be careful, do not get screwed over on eBay.

CaddymanTom

01-27-06, 11:53 PM

A good friend of mine just got screwed on eBay, to the tune of $5100. Guy in Florida had a 98 Suburban for sale, reserve not met, then agreed after the auction, sent an email looking like from eBay saying that he agreed to the highest bid (note that reserve was not met, so auction is ended with no sale) and they guy told him to wire the $ using Western Union. They guy picked up cash, and no deliver on vehicle. They guy claimed to have no PayPal account so needed the $ to be wired.

PLEASE be very very cautious on any eBay sale! DO NOT send a dime until you are 100% confident in the person to be legit and deliver the car/truck. If you have to ask eBay for help, do so. There is a lot of fraudulent escrow houses out there too. Many work with the scammer directly, are one in the same too.

And if any sale is made AFTER the bidding has ended and no bidder has won (and it shows in your MY eBay page that you HAVE won, do nothing unless My Ebay page shows it, all communication for sending $$ goes there, not through emails from eBay) eBay will not help you. They will try to shut the person down, but you have no recourse on eBay. My friend's only hope is Western Union. We have what we think is a legit VIN, and we have a phone that worked once, but is now disconnected, and the "new" number in Florida does not belong to anyone that has a clue.

The story is the guy was in ILL somewhere, and moved to Florida and had to sell and was going to deliver the vehicle to him. No contact can be made now. All emails now are unresponsive.

So, just please be careful, do not get screwed over on eBay.

WOW very scary story! I have had great luck on e-bay however have always paid through paypal. If something is too good to be true it almost always is. That is my motto

ocjmakaveli

01-28-06, 01:46 AM

BOTTOM LINE NEVER USE WESTERN UNION OR Any similar crap for ebay.

Paypal is always protected money.

Never buy a car from a seller with low feedback NEVER EVER even IF ITS A $100 2005 DTS I would never risk my money.

Ebay is a great place for the cautious buyer but it's easy to get scammed on it.

I've received plenty of emails trying to say my account has been accessed etc. please log-in again to reactivate your ebay account ...........of course this is just some guy trying to get me to type my ebay info or paypal info so they can use it.

If i remember correctly there should have been ID's involved for the western union any transaction over $1000 requires ID's so that can help a lot too.

Have your guy look into that I'd say that's the most promising.

There could be ALL false info on ebay leading to nowhere.

There's only 1 way he can catch the guy if the guy is a novice he can hire someone to track the IP of whomever logged into ebay to sell the vehicle and with that find out whose internet account was used and it'll lead to the criminal.

Let us know if anything good happens with it.

The Ape Man

01-28-06, 08:08 PM

http://www.ic3.gov/

N0DIH

01-29-06, 01:41 AM

Yup, he opened an investagation with IC3, Western Union and eBay. eBay is pretty much "well, it was your fault to deal when them with the auction closed". That sucks.

davesdeville

01-29-06, 05:32 AM

Hence eBay warning you all the time about not doing business outside of eBay. I'd only do business directly with the seller 1 on 1, face to face.

Night Wolf

01-29-06, 07:07 PM

There was a car on ebay... my dream car... with a Buy It Now (outside of ebay) that was sooo low, it HAD to be a scam... to top it off the car was in sweeden... this was like last week.... there was no way that could have been right though... and to think I "almost" fell for it.... too good to be true, it must be.

910clubs

01-29-06, 07:25 PM

theres a lot of scams like that, if the person was the 2nd highest bidder, they fake it and say the winning bidder flaked out and offer the 2nd highest bidder outside of ebay, thats when people get screwed over, ive been hearing this happen very frequent lately.

N0DIH

01-30-06, 11:36 AM

This one was in Florida, the price was a little below market (just over $5K for a 98 Suburban K1500 in decent shape with 120-130K miles) So it just looked like the person was trying to the car sold to get some much needed cash, so they agreed to sell below the reserve price after the auction. Personally I always thought that was legal on eBay. But then again, I have only bought 1 thing on eBay years ago. And it was a cheap item.

CaddymanTom

01-30-06, 06:37 PM

This one was in Florida, the price was a little below market (just over $5K for a 98 Suburban K1500 in decent shape with 120-130K miles) So it just looked like the person was trying to the car sold to get some much needed cash, so they agreed to sell below the reserve price after the auction. Personally I always thought that was legal on eBay. But then again, I have only bought 1 thing on eBay years ago. And it was a cheap item.

I have purchased 4 cars on e-bay and have been very happy with all of them. My latest, 1978 Seville was a great deal. I purchased this car sight unseend. The car was in even better condition then I expected. I know however, I have been very lucky. I have heard a lot of horror stories.

settlepa

03-14-06, 01:20 PM

Yh, I have also been a ebay car shopper, just easier I guess and better selection, use a car fax and call and talk to the person and things should be ok.

N0DIH

03-14-06, 01:31 PM

Ironic, that is exactly what he did. The carfax was from a car that he saw and took a picture of in a subdivision. Not even one he had. The owner of the car said this scam is plauging him, he keeps getting called for it by the authorities, and it isn't him.

The number that the guy talked to the "owner" (scammer) was disconnected the day after the sale.... Probably a prepaid cell phone or something, hard to trace anything on them. You can be very annonomous on them.

Yh, I have also been a ebay car shopper, just easier I guess and better selection, use a car fax and call and talk to the person and things should be ok.

Cadillacboy

03-14-06, 02:00 PM

What a horrible story ...In fact , ebay should change the way the buyers send their payment via Pay Pal or Bid PAy etc ...
What I stress on is that let's say you will send your payment directly to the ebay's account not the seller's . And then a confirmation e-mail is sent to the seller by ebay including buyer's address .
The seller must ship the item out within 3 days to the buyer and after that ,seller must notify he/she ship the item out to buyer with the tracking info.And buyer must confirm once the item is arrived safe and sound and in satisfying condition .
Once the buyer picks up the item , he/she must notify ebay and ebay sends the payment to the seller .
This is one way to prevent some scammers but I don't know why ebay don't use that way

Destroyer

03-14-06, 05:09 PM

There was a car on ebay... my dream car... with a Buy It Now (outside of ebay) that was sooo low, it HAD to be a scam... to top it off the car was in sweeden... this was like last week.... there was no way that could have been right though... and to think I "almost" fell for it.... too good to be true, it must be.Something like this right? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1970-PLYMOUTH-CUDA-CONVT_W0QQitemZ4621759423QQcategoryZ6409QQrdZ1QQcm dZViewItem

Jonas McFeely

03-14-06, 06:51 PM

Something like this right? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1970-PLYMOUTH-CUDA-CONVT_W0QQitemZ4621759423QQcategoryZ6409QQrdZ1QQcm dZViewItem

Is that even legal?

Destroyer

03-14-06, 07:31 PM

Is that even legal?Not if it isn't real. Somehow these kinds of "deals" are always finding there way into ebay. I've seen a Boss 429 in similar condition for like $5k. I dont know what exactly these scammers are doing or how they are able to do it but they are doing it.

FredMaxwell

03-15-06, 08:28 AM

Ebay and Paypal... two crooked slime ball companies unite and join forces in creating an even bigger and more slimy mess.

I don't take saying something like that lightly mind you but it has to be said in order to warn you. I have extensive experience with ebay.
Conclusion: I will buy there on occasion - I will not sell there.

As far as sending some guy five large through WU that wasn't a good idea. WU is a huge red flag.. a huge one! I use to run internet businesses so I know some of how these things work, ok ok I am dated but I can assure you that you should not ever use WU.

Don't trust paypal. 9000 miles of fine print and horror stories with them. Frozen acct for this frozen funds for that.. on and on.
Crooked, scummy and ridiculous that company is - I don't know how they've survived. Sure, alot of companies share the named traits but not many are so blatantly advertising their underhandedness and surviving.

You want to buy an automobile.. pay for it when you pick it up.
You want to sell one? Be careful..
Cashiers checks aren't cash.
Verifying a cashiers check with a bank is not foolproof.
Wire transfers can be drawn on paper instruments.. be careful. They CAN backfire at you. POOF. :tisk:

Pay cash get a good title,
Verify the numbers
Accept cash only and when you must accept another form of payment do not give posession of the automobile and if you still must do that you say
"I'll mail the title".

Be careful out there! Base your decisions on good old fashioned logic and common sense. Never let emotion enter into a transaction.
Simple and plain:
"Look here pal I'll pay $X for this and this is how and when you'll be paid, jack"
"That doesn't work for you, fine, good bye stupid"

Then walk and find a deal that is safe and comfortable for you.
The deal of a century will be right along to see you again next week.

N0DIH

03-15-06, 03:46 PM

Look at this, they guy is a not registered user:

"Note: "Not a registered user" can refer to members who have cancelled their membership, or whose membership has been suspended by eBay. For example, a member whose correct contact information is no longer on file with us may have their registration suspended until the new contact information is entered. In either case, the member appears as "not a registered user" and is not allowed to buy or sell on eBay."

I got on a live chat with eBay and they are investigating, we'll see if they can it or not.